Toothbrush



Nov. 25, 1,941. A GRUslN 2,263,802

TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 18, 1939 iaienieci Non. 225, Ei

UNITED STATES PATENT vcil-FICE 7 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to brushes in general and more particularly to tooth brushes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tooth brush wherein the groups of bristles are so mounted as to permit swiveling of the groups of bristles with substantially no, or very little. flexing or bending of the-bristles at their point of support.

`In using a tooth brush it is frequently desirable to exert considerable pressure of the brush against the teeth or gums and, simultaneously therewith, produce a rolling motion of the brush bristles on the teeth or gums, especially at the line of contact between the teeth and the gums. Such action, withbrushes as heretofore constructed, necessarily resulted in a very considerable amount of sharp bending or exing of the brush bristles at their point of support in the tooth brush, with the result that the bristles became loosened or broken in a short time. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide abristle mounting which will reduce, if not entirely eliminate, the amount of exing of the bristle at its mounting, while at the same time permitting considerable angular movement of the bristles with respect to the rest of the brush so that the desired tooth brush action can be obtained.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a tooth brush having means on the back thereof to facilitate use of the brush for massaging the gums. This result is obtained by providing ball bearings swiveled in the tooth brush and projecting beyond the back thereof,

which ball bearings are rotatable. As a result,v 35

if the back of the tooth brush is moved over the gums, the rolling motion of the ball bearings produces a desirable massaging action. v

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present invention will be apparent. 40

from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an enlarged end view of a tooth brush constructed in accordance with the present invention with a portion of the brush handle broken away;

Figure 2 is a top view of the brush of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figures 4 and 5 are sections through the upper and lower ball bearing socket 'forming members of the brush.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the tooth brush shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises the usual handle portion I having an integrally formed brush receiving head 2 as is usual in tooth brushes, and made of the usual tooth brush material, which is generally a cellulosic plastic. The lbrush receiving head has a number of ball bearing receiving holes 4 therein. The inner surfaces of the holes are shaped as portions of a sphere, and the holes extend entirely through the backing member B of the head 2. The front of the head 2 comprises a surfacing member l of the same plastic material as the rest of the brush, which surfacing member has holes 8 therein, also of the shape of the portion of the surface of a sphere of the same radius of the holes 4, and opposite to said holes. Balls l0 are swiveled in the holes 4-8 so as to be freely rotatable therein but make a substantially watertight fit in the sockets. The backing lmembers 6 and surfacing member 1 are secured together to embrace the balls and form one integral structure, in any desired manner. As illustrated, the backing member and the surfacing member are secured together by a layer I2 of cementltious material such as acetone, which causes the two members to fuse together so that in the finished product the cementing layer I2 is not visible.

The balls Il are, preferably, steel ball bearings. Each ball III has a cylindrical bore I5 therein. A group of brush bristles I6 are secured in the bore l5 of each ball bearing III. The ball bearing II) projects forward of the surfacing layer 1, and the opening I5 is of lesser diameter than the openings 8 at the outer exposed surface of the surfacing layer 1. As a result each group of bristles has a permissive universal angular motion within the limits indicated by the dotdash triangles I'I--I8 in Figures 1 and 3, that is, until the ball has swiveled to such an extent that the bristles abut against the surface of the surfacing layer 1. Each group of bristles has a permissive angular motion in all directions, and the movement of each group of bristles is substantially independent of the movement of any other group.

It is apparent from the description thus far lgiven that any group of bristles may flex an appreciable amount without producing any substantial bending of the bristles at the point of emergence of each bristle from the socket I5 in the ball bearing. As a result of this construction the amount of bending or flexing of each bristle at the point of support thereof in the brush, during normal use of the tooth brush, is very substantially reduced thereby increasing the useful life of the tooth brush.

The back of the tooth brush head may be used for massaging the gums. Each ball projects from the back of the tooth brush a slight distance, as may be seen from Figine 1. In using of the tooth brush for gum massaging purposes the portion of the balls that project from the back of the brush roll as well as slide on the gums as the brush is moved to and fro. The rolling action facilitates the massaging. If no massaging features are desired in the brush then the backing layer 6 may be made somewhat thicker so that the balls do not project from the rear of the tooth brush.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have here shown and described a few preferred embodiments of my invention. It is, however. to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise constructions here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. A brush comprising a backing member having ball sockets formed therein, a plurality of balls swiveled in the sockets in said backing member with a part of each ball extending outside oi said backing member, and a tuft of brush bristles secured to each ball so that each tuft of bristles is swiveled to the backing member by the ball in which it is mounted.

2. A brush comprising a backing member having ball sockets formed therein, a plurality of balls swiveled in the sockets in said backing member with a part of each ball extending outside of the backing member, each ball having a hole therein at the portion thereof which extends outside of the backing, and a tuft of brush bristles secured in and projecting out of said hole.

3. A gum massaging device comprising a base member, a surfacing member over said base member and in physical contact therewith and adhered thereto along their entire opposite surfaces to prevent wetting of said opposite surfaces, said members having mating cavities forming ball sockets, balls swiveled in said sockets, the cavities in at least one of the members extending therethrough, and a part of the surface of each ball extend-ing through the cavity to the outside of said last mentioned member and the entire projecting part of each ball being a smooth continuous spherical surface.

4. A brush including a base member, a surfacing member over said base, said members having mating cavities forming ball sockets, balls swiveled in said sockets, the cavities in at least one of said members extending therethrough, and brush bristles mounted in said balls and extending through said cavities.

5. A tooth brush including a base member, a surfacing member over said base, said members having mating cavities forming ball sockets, balls swiveled in said sockets, the cavities in both members extending therethrough, said balls projecting through the cavities on the outside of one of the members, and brush bristles mounted in said balls and projecting through the other member.

6. A tooth brush including a base member, a surfacing member over said base, said members having mating cavities forming ball sockets, balls swiveled in said sockets, the cavities in both members extending therethrough, said balls projecting through the cavities on the outside of one of the members and constituting rolling massaging means, and brush bristles mounted in said balls and projecting through the other member and having a limited universal angular movement with respect to the members, said angular movement being accompanied by a swiveling of the mounting ball.

7. An oral device including a head portion adapted to be inserted into the mouth adjacent the inner surfaces of the lips and the cheeks, a handle for said head portion for oscillating and reciprocating the head portion, said head p0rtion having a plurality of ball sockets formed therein and each socket opening on two opposite sides of the head portion, balls swivelled in said sockets and projecting through both openings in each socket, and means for limiting the extent of oscillation of a ball in a socket to a fraction of half a revolution, said limiting means comprising a tuft of brush bristles secured in each ball and projecting therefrom through one side of the head portion to constitute the device, a 'tooth brush, the tuft of bristles abutting against the head portion upon oscillation of the associated ball for limiting the extent of oscillation thereof.

ARTHUR GRUSIN. 

